What to do while waiting for my first post-OW dives

[34109411]

I got my OW certification earlier this month, and I have now book a 10 dive package for the beginning of February. Extremely excited to the point of being unable to focus on much else, including work.

What can I be doing in the time before my dives?

Ideally this would be to get me in a better position to take advantage of the dives, but really anything to stop obsessing pointlessly would be good. I have watched every single youtube video about scuba. I have read all of reddit r/Scuba, r ScubaDiving, and r/ScubaGear. I'm working my way through scubaboard. I am obsessively and circularly researching dive computers. I am building up a list of accessories to buy.

What else can I do that is useful?

Alec Peirce you tube

Inner space explorer you tube

Ask mark you tube

Flow state diver you tube

Float and flag you tube

go scroll on the DAN Website.

Mike Young you tube

learn underwater water navigation using a compass ( plenty of video about it) and calculate your sac and rmv this will keep you busy for the next two months.

 

[Wants2divemore]

I considered getting regs, so that I could use air integration (sorry I refuse to call it AI!). However, I have absolutely no idea what I want in a regulator or BCD. I’m not sure that a low end set $500-ish) would be any better than rentals. They wouldn’t save money in the long term, and then there’s the headache of maintenance. If at some point I start to feel that something is lacking in the rentals then I can look to buy.

Feel free to persuade me I’m wrong!

Even if you only end up being a travel diver (although I suggest you look into diving locally like @BoltSnap recommends) having your own gear that you're familiar with and know is properly maintained will bring an extra level of comfort and reassurance to your dives. I like to minimize risk as much as possible where I can, especially since there is an amount of risk inherent in scuba that you can't mitigate. I agree that from a financial standpoint alone owning your own gear doesn't make as much sense if you're only a travel diver diving 2-3 times per year initially. But I think it's important to factor non-financial things into the equation as well. Plus, air integration is cool I personally like looking at my SAC rate during a dive. If I see it creeping up it's a good reminder that I may need to slow down, relax more, and enjoy the dive.

 

[fred32176]

Since you will be in Orlando, look the Facebook group it's dive o'clock somewhere in central Florida. We often have dives at a spring a couple of hours from Orlando, it is a very laid back group and you can come to one of our dives. If you join the group, you can will see lots of pictures of local dives.

Also, DM me if you want to go somewhere and need a dive buddy while you are in the area.

 

[TMHeimer]

Your living in the Boston area, you have so much opportunity to go diving locally. I lived in NE USA for 30 years, about 15 of which was in MA. Even when I moved to NY, I drove back to MA/RI to dive on weekends and holidays (I left NY back to Boston later). You can go diving with some of the best diving available in the world within 1 - 2 hour drive from where you are. Even Boston has excellent diving especially if diving from a boat. I dove from Maine down to RI (not much diving in CT myself) and I loved all of it and I can't wait to go back to dive there.

I bring this up because I want you to consider diving locally in addition to going away to dive. I come originally from hot and sunny Libya but I loved diving in New England so much and was diving most weekends and most of summer either in MA or RI.

Agree, but it's the middle of winter.

 

[dmaziuk]

Feel free to persuade me I’m wrong!

You're not wrong but the devil is in the details. Fins and to lesser extent masks need to fit well; if you have well-calibrated reference human feet: great!, otherwise you may have to go through a few before you find ones that fit you. And then you buy them and stick with them. Similarly, wetsuits tend to be tailored to spherical divers, if you're not one of them, you may find the rental offerings... overly generous around the midsection.

Don't buy a BCD until they tell you about BP&W (I just did). Rental regs tend to work just fine: as a rule, dive ops don't want dead customers, so they don't give them bad kit.

Computers are a whole 'nother can of worms... but get one and read the manual so you know what it's telling you.

PS. knife, DSMB, flashlight, wet-book: meh. DSMB is useful if you do drift dives, mine stays on the boat 9 dives out of 10. For cutting tools, trauma shears and trilobile beat "dive knives" hands down, and I do carry a wet slate... for when I find something really cool and want to manually set white balance on the camera for the shot. A $20 chinesium flashlights from fleebay work fine and you won't cry much when you flood one (buy two).

 

[happyharris]

Since you will be in Orlando, look the Facebook group it's dive o'clock somewhere in central Florida. We often have dives at a spring a couple of hours from Orlando, it is a very laid back group and you can come to one of our dives. If you join the group, you can will see lots of pictures of local dives.

Also, DM me if you want to go somewhere and need a dive buddy while you are in the area.

This is great; thanks. However we decided not to go to Florida this time around, and to go to Barbados instead. (She is going on business, which started the whole idea). Maybe that was a mistake, but it’s done now. I’ll definitely keep this in mind for the future.

 

[happyharris]

You're not wrong but the devil is in the details. Fins and to lesser extent masks need to fit well;

That's the first time I've heard anyone say that the fit of fins is more important than masks. Perhaps I am biased by by own experience, but in my short number of dives, an ill-fitting mask ruined one dive (kept leaking).

if you have well-calibrated reference human feet: great!, otherwise you may have to go through a few before you find ones that fit you.

I think this is the key: I need to spend some time renting to find out what will fit - both physically and to my needs. But I think we are actually more in agreement than disagreement: when I can tell that a bought item will be better for me than a rental, and I know what I need, I'll look into buying it.

And then you buy them and stick with them. Similarly, wetsuits tend to be tailored to spherical divers, if you're not one of them, you may find the rental offerings... overly generous around the midsection.

Is this like the apocryphal spherical sheep used by math students? Or are you referring to the average shape of the American tourist compared to athletic people? If the latter, then I am definitely more spherical than you!

Don't buy a BCD until they tell you about BP&W (I just did). Rental regs tend to work just fine: as a rule, dive ops don't want dead customers, so they don't give them bad kit.

Computers are a whole 'nother can of worms... but get one and read the manual so you know what it's telling you.

PS. knife, DSMB, flashlight, wet-book: meh. DSMB is useful if you do drift dives, mine stays on the boat 9 dives out of 10. For cutting tools, trauma shears and trilobile beat "dive knives" hands down, and I do carry a wet slate... for when I find something really cool and want to manually set white balance on the camera for the shot. A $20 chinesium flashlights from fleebay work fine and you won't cry much when you flood one (buy two).

 

[rhwestfall]

If you do happen to decide to purchase a computer, soon might not be a bad idea. You can really digest the manual between now and your dives. Knowing what it is doing/showing you is a good idea. I see too often people with either brand new or rental computers, and don't know what the display is telling them.

 

[happyharris]

A diver in open water should always carry a DSMB (and spool or reel). If blown off a wreck it could make getting found, easier, faster and safer than ascending into an unknown area that might have boat traffic. If lost at sea it could make the difference between life and death. The advantages of deploying at depth (when necessary) as compared to at the surface cannot be overstated.

Edited to add. A diver should also routinely deploy the SMB not only for skills practice but to make sure it's working properly. On a recent dive trip I deployed my DSMB and the spool got hung up after letting out only a bit of line because the outer brackets were bent in due to damage during airplane travel. That one didn't end all that well.

I'm glad you said this, because it is something I have felt, but the boards are filled with more experienced divers who (from my point of view) seem much less likely to follow all safety guidelines. Glad to hear that the way I plan to start out is at least within the range of reasonable opinions. (I'm not criticizing you or dmaziuk )

 

[FreqFlier]

Don't buy a BCD until they tell you about BP&W (I just did). Rental regs tend to work just fine: as a rule, dive ops don't want dead customers, so they don't give them bad kit.

Some gear is more personalized than the rest. I'd say you can be renting BCs and regs for a while, maybe even a computer until you know exactly what you want/need. Those three are the big ticket items.
I believe it is worth buying the rest - mask (has to fit your face perfectly), snorkel, wetsuit (again, has to fit your body perfectly), fins (you rarely get good rental ones) and boots (to go with your fins). All of that will cost you less than a semi-decent computer. $400-500 will most likely cover that.
And get that Nitrox cert asap.